Did You Catch this X-MEN Easter Egg in Black Widow?
Did you catch the X-Men Easter Egg in Marvel Studios’ Black Widow? It’s the latest reference to the mutant IP that Marvel Studios acquired from 21st Century Fox Studios. On Thursday, Dutch bodybuilder, actor, and model Olivier Richters made a post on Instagram revealing that the small role he played in the movie was actually Ursa Major, aka the Great Bear, and then, he made the claim that he was the first mutant to appear onscreen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe!
Photo: The Dutch Giant Instagram
The character, Ursa, first appeared onscreen in the scene in which Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) and Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), our new favorite Black Widow, free Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour) from prison.
Ursa Major
Ursa Major is a member of the Winter Guard, the U.S.S.R.’s answer to the Avengers – in other words, he’s “the Hulk” to Red Guardian’s “Captain America”! Capable of growing to an immense size (and taking on the appearance of a bear, as his name suggests), this character is a formidable foe!
The character first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #258 by Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema, Jim Novak, and Bob Sharen.
-
- The Incredible Hulk #258. Photo: Marvel Comics
-
- The Incredible Hulk #258. Photo: Marvel Comics
On Instagram, Richters made reference to this origin, noting, “After two years I can finally tell who my character is: Ursa Major: mutant (X-Men) that appears in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ursa is part of the Winter Guard, noted for being ‘Russia’s answer to the Avengers.’ His power transforms him into an incredible bear, transcending The Hulk in size.”
And he’s also a mutant. In Captain America and the Winter Soldier, we saw Madripoor, a location introduced in the panels of The New Mutants and closely associated with Wolverine… however, we did not see any (obvious) mutants in this setting.
-
- Photo: Marvel Comics/Olivier Richters Instagram
-
- Photo: Marvel Comics/Olivier Richters Instagram
According to Richters, he is the first mutant to appear on screen in the MCU, something that makes the actor incredibly happy.
He said on Instagram, “When production on set told me who I really was in Black Widow I let some tears in my hotel room, because my movie dream became true: being a official comic super hero. I can only hope Marvel will bring back Ursa in full form.”
Photo: Marvel Comics/Olivier Richters Instagram
Mutant Madness
The actor’s Instagram post originally claimed that he was the first mutant to appear in the MCU, but he later edited the comment to account for Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, played by Elizabeth Olsen in the MCU.
Photo: Marvel Comics
Richters paid all due respect to the Scarlet Witch, but noted that in the MCU, her powers are not derived from the fact that she is a mutant, they are derived from experimentation using the Infinity Stones. That is the ultimate comics deep dive, Richters, so major props from a fellow Wanda fan!
More Mutants to Come?
It must only be a matter of time before we get to see mutants on screen alongside the other heroes in the MCU, don’t you think, Marvel Blog True Believers? Let us know which mutants you want to see next in the comment section.
